Chiaroscuro Retreat at Bundara Farm, Berry – Day 2

As you might have read last week, I am thrilled about my first workshop, Chiaroscuro, with Valentina and Zaira. I’m still missing the buzz but I am enjoying some MUCH NEEDED down time before I go to the US on Sunday.

The second day kicked off with a HUGE breakfast spread by Alfie’s Kitchen, our kick-ass caterers. One of the most popular recipes on my blog, my vanilla bean and coconut rice pudding with red wine poached pears was well and truly eclipsed by the fried egg rolls with smoked nectarine relish, avocado, tomato and cheddar cheese (it was legit the best breakfast i’ve ever eaten). I still think about them (and so does Francesco).

The first workshop of the day covered Styling 101 and took the guests through composition, angles, colours, lighting and all the various factors that contribute to styling a recipe. Valentina is truly the most gifted teacher, making it so easy to follow and learn. After, we broke for a picnic lunch styled by Lean. We spread out on the grass and munched on sandwiches, salad and THE most delicious chocolate brownie (actually the best brownie everrrrrrr).

After lunch, Zaira taught us how to style a still life composition and we all crowded around, watching her magic. She has the most incredible styling ability, creating a sublimely beautiful scene in just minutes. Everyone took turns to get “the shot” before we did a collective Lightroom demonstration and had question time, which turned into a few hours of chatting of course.

We broke for a bit of free time so the staff could get the beautiful old barn ready for dinner. Lean styled it perfectly with foraged foliage, candles and we lit the fires to keep everyone warm. We piled into the barn to indulge in another 5 course dinner and whiled the night away chatting all things photography and more.

The next morning, after another delicious breakfast (see menu below), we got together to chat about the business side of blogging, instagram and marketing. This was one of my favourite parts of the weekend as it offered guests practical ideas for understanding and building their brand and profile. I find this to be the hardest part of creating an online presence and I personally learnt a lot from Valentina and Zaira on this topic.

We sent guests off with a packed morning tea (along with more brownies obviously) and said our goodbyes. It was sad to farewell everyone but we all exchanged handles and promised to stay in touch. I have loved every single #workshopwiththemacadames photo, I love seeing the workshop through their eyes.

Again, I will let the photos do the talking, I hope you enjoy!

Note: I have included the links to our partners and the menus from the weekend (some recipes are from our blogs so I have included these links for you too). Needless to say, no one went home hungry.